Moonstone Cody and a Minor Colic

The arena at Rancho Murieta is either frozen or frying. Except for last weekend - it was soggy.

The reining show season begins soon and the traditional January schooling show was held a week ago Friday. As usual, I hauled my old, dependable and reliable reining horse (Cody) and a young filly (Boo) to have the practice runs. It was Boo's first show, so I was anxious to see how she would do in the practice pen, as well as in the arena.

We landed Friday afternoon, unloaded the horses, got the trailer parked and prepared for the show to be held on Saturday and Sunday. I got Boo saddled to give her a warm-up pen experience. I was thankful that she tolerated the activity level, and really did OK in the busy pen. After about 45 minutes, we  returned to the stalls.

I could tell immediately that Cody was not well. He had not touched the flake of hay I threw into his stall, nor touched his water. He was covered with fresh shavings, so he had to have been laying down - very unusual given the time of day and his typical behavior. After I unsaddled Boo, peering again into his stall, he was down.

I have owned Cody for about six years, and he has never had any health issues. When I bought him, he was recently gelded after being a breeding stallion. Since he was a finished reiner (ie expensive), I invested in a prepurchase exam.   My vet and I and received permission to review his health history. As a colt, Cody did have a bout of colic that was serious enough to land him in the hospital. Since then - no problems.

It was Friday afternoon, and after observing his behavior, and being away from my local veterinarian, I decided to contact a vet to come out and check my gelding. I knew that if Cody should become worse, it would be difficult or impossible to find someone to look at him at midnight on a Friday.

The first vet I called listened patiently as I explained the problem. After a noticeable pause, he told me that he just couldn't make it out, please try somebody else. That's OK, I thought. The fact that he paused before answering, and did offer to come out if necessary was great. At least I had a fallback in case I couldn't find another vet.

My next attempt ended when I got a voice mail message. Should I leave a message and wait? No - I decided that given the circumstances, I would be unlikely to get a callback.  Who knows?

The third attempt resulted in getting an answering service that was polite and knowledgeable. Indeed, they did have a vet on call, and she would contact me to discuss the problem. I left my cell number and waited for not more than 5 minutes when I received her call.

This vet had just walked into her house when she got the message from the service. After a long day, the prospect of being home with the kids and starting the weekend must have been pleasant. That damned phone!

After listening to my spiel, she (not so cheefully) agreed that if I could give her a little time, she would be right out. Of course, it was now dark and in addition to soggy, freezing, so I asked - How long?

She said - About an hour. - Why? - I'm coming from Davis, the arena is one hour from my home. Of course I would rather have someone without the commute, but a bird in the hand...  I said see you when you get here.

Precisely one hour later, the white truck pulled up.  The vet, polite and professional, started to work. Gut sounds were OK, he was in pain so let's give him some Banamine to relax. A little tranquilizer to allow the "popular" digital exam. Poop hard, but no lower blockage. Give him mush with salt to get him drinking and to allow the spasmodic colic to pass.  Call me if he gets worse. 15 minutes.

With her arm buried in my gelding up to her bicep, we did the normal vet - client chit-chat. How's business is my usual line in these circumstances. She looked me in the eye and said - not good. Our practice is closing its doors at the end of this week. She explained that the "James Herriot" style of large animal practice in the upscale Sacramento area is an impractical business model. It seem that the practice that she shared could not cope with the high cost of overhead, and the constant struggle in an economy where large-animal care is disadvantaged when mortgage payments come due.

I was saddened to hear this, not for myself, but for this vet who went into debt to acquire the knowledge and skills so that she could care for animals. I was saddened because horses, cattle, sheep and other livestock in the area were losing an advocate. I was saddened because my own daughter hoped to some day be a large animal veterinarian.

Our case was a simple colic - it probably didn't need any attention at all as most of these episodes pass with time. With this horse I didn't want to take a chance. But I guess the point of this post is that we are quickly losing veterinary practitioners who care for our horses and other livestock. Yes, the Sacramento area is not a great place for a large animal vet to practice, what with the urbanization, high cost of land, and the loss of the agriculture industry. But it will start here - and progress to your neighborhood soon.

Please support your local large animal practice, and let them help you care for your animals as much as possible. There may come a time when your calls for help with a serious health condition in one of your equines is unheard, not because of the vet being unwilling, but because there is no vet.